The big games just keep on coming in the SEC West. Auburn was the only one of the favorites in the conference to avoid an upset last weekend and now sit atop the conference. Senior quarterback Nick Marshall has done just enough to keep the Tigers undefeated with a 57.9 percent completion percentage and 8 passing touchdowns in addition to 392 rushing yards and four scores on the ground. But Mississippi State comes in riding the momentum of a big win over Texas A&M, thanks in large part to junior quarterback Dak Prescott. This season, Prescott has thrown for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 455 rushing yards and six touchdowns. With both teams currently undefeated, this could be the game that decides who represents the division in the SEC Championship Game.

No. 9 TCU at No. 5 Baylor

McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas

Saturday, 2:30 PM

ABC

Given how their first two seasons in the Big 12 went, it’s quite a surprise to see the Horned Frogs finally finding their sea legs. TCU put the conference on notice Saturday with a big home upset of Oklahoma, putting its name in the hat as a contender for the Big 12 title. The Horned Frogs have benefitted from a strong year so far from junior quarterback Trevone Boykin, who has thrown for 1,176 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushed for three more scores. But TCU is going into McLane Stadium and facing a Baylor team that’s looking to win back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 1915-16 — when it was in the Southwest Conference. While senior quarterback Bryce Petty isn’t on the same pace he was a year ago, the Bears have gotten a big help from their rushing attack — with 247.4 rushing yards per game — and their defense — allowing just 12.4 points per game. As we saw last week, no one in college football is safe and this game could go a long way in determining who wins the Big 12 this year.

No. 3 Ole Miss at No. 14 Texas A&M

Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

Saturday, 8:00 PM

ESPN

Last week changed the perceptions of both teams and how people see them finishing in the SEC West. Ole Miss pulled off arguably the biggest victory in program history with a 23-17 win over Alabama at home Saturday. Senior quarterback Bo Wallace is having a strong year with 1,522 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, but the defense has been the biggest factor, holding opponents to only 10.2 points per game. Texas A&M, on the other hand, struggled on both sides of the ball in the loss to Mississippi State. Sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill threw three interceptions and the Aggie defense allowed the Bulldogs to accumulate 559 total yards. With the SEC West still wide open, this will be a pivotal game for both teams.

No. 13 Georgia at No. 23 Missouri

Farout Field, Columbia, Missouri

Saturday, 11:00 AM

CBS

For as good as the SEC West has been, the SEC East has been mediocre. Each team in the division has a loss, some of them pretty bad losses at that. But, while Georgia has a conference loss and Missouri is undefeated in SEC play, this game will likely determine the division winner. Georgia, aside from the loss to South Carolina, has been led by junior running back Todd Gurley. Gurley has put together a strong Heisman campaign so far, with 773 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. But Missouri’s sophomore quarterback Maty Mauk has proven that last year was no fluke with 1,110 passing yards and 14 touchdowns already this season. With the SEC East on the line, this will be the game to watch Saturday morning.

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Published on September 29, 2014 at 2:18 am

The original intent of the Ferguson to Palestine panel, covered by Kylie Fitzpatrick in a story that ran online Thursday under the headline “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza,” was to facilitate a discussion on the shared experiences of institutionalized racism and militarized state violence. By connecting the recent events of Ferguson, Missouri, to what is occurring in Palestine and Gaza, the panelists and audience began a critical discussion on these pressing issues. However, the article covering the event a) failed to recognize black student voices, b) mislead readers in the title and c) failed to adhere to journalistic integrity and objectivity.

The voices of black students at this event were entirely excluded from the coverage or even noted as participating members of this discussion. The original article failed to note that the event was co-hosted by the Pre-Law National Black Law Student Association and Association of Black Psychologists. The article failed to include any means of representing black students in this discussion. This is ironic because a substantial proportion of the discussion related to how the media lacks coverage of (or misrepresents) the struggles of minority groups. Rather, the author made the choice to include a volunteered comment by an individual from the organization Texans for Israel who was not in attendance.

I found the title, “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza,” to be misleading. “UT Palestine group” suggests only pro-Palestine students organized this event. The title also suggests that the reader might learn more about what “connections between Ferguson and Gaza” were addressed in the discussion. Unfortunately, nowhere in the story does it explain the actual content discussed, which included the use of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles on civilian populations, how media coverage portrays minority struggles of racism and the respectability politics of minority groups that turns the victims into the responsible parties.

As an unaffiliated participant in the event, I can say the author did not present a true representation of the event and its purpose. The author failed to adhere to journalistic objectivity by focusing more on the overlapping of the event with a religious holiday than on trying to convey the scope of the discussion that took place. She did this while largely ignoring the black student organizations that co-sponsored this event and the black students who participated in the discussion by not quoting them.

As readers we must always question the integrity of the journalist, any journalist. It is the responsibility of the journalist to be objective and accurate when reporting on what takes place in the day-to-day. All consumers of any kind of media have to ask themselves how the facts are represented, what sources were used and whose voices are included or excluded. If the motto of UT is “What starts here changes the world,” then we need our journalists coming from UT to ensure that world is represented accurately.

— Megan Maldonado, an international relations and global studies and sociology junior from Houston, in response to a Thursday news article that ran under the web headline “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza.”

Article leaves out black voices

The original intent of the Ferguson to Palestine panel, covered by Kylie Fitzpatrick in a story that ran online Thursday under the headline “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza,” was to facilitate a discussion on the shared experiences of institutionalized racism and militarized state violence. By connecting the recent events of Ferguson, Missouri, to what is occurring in Palestine and Gaza, the panelists and audience began a critical discussion on these pressing issues. However, the article covering the event a) failed to recognize black student voices, b) mislead readers in the title and c) failed to adhere to journalistic integrity and objectivity.

The voices of black students at this event were entirely excluded from the coverage or even noted as participating members of this discussion. The original article failed to note that the event was co-hosted by the Pre-Law National Black Law Student Association and Association of Black Psychologists. The article failed to include any means of representing black students in this discussion. This is ironic because a substantial proportion of the discussion related to how the media lacks coverage of (or misrepresents) the struggles of minority groups. Rather, the author made the choice to include a volunteered comment by an individual from the organization Texans for Israel who was not in attendance.

I found the title, “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza,” to be misleading. “UT Palestine group” suggests only pro-Palestine students organized this event. The title also suggests that the reader might learn more about what “connections between Ferguson and Gaza” were addressed in the discussion. Unfortunately, nowhere in the story does it explain the actual content discussed, which included the use of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles on civilian populations, how media coverage portrays minority struggles of racism and the respectability politics of minority groups that turns the victims into the responsible parties.

As an unaffiliated participant in the event, I can say the author did not present a true representation of the event and its purpose. The author failed to adhere to journalistic objectivity by focusing more on the overlapping of the event with a religious holiday than on trying to convey the scope of the discussion that took place. She did this while largely ignoring the black student organizations that co-sponsored this event and the black students who participated in the discussion by not quoting them.

As readers we must always question the integrity of the journalist, any journalist. It is the responsibility of the journalist to be objective and accurate when reporting on what takes place in the day-to-day. All consumers of any kind of media have to ask themselves how the facts are represented, what sources were used and whose voices are included or excluded. If the motto of UT is “What starts here changes the world,” then we need our journalists coming from UT to ensure that world is represented accurately.

— Megan Maldonado, an international relations and global studies and sociology junior from Houston, in response to a Thursday news article that ran under the web headline “UT Palestine group discusses connections between Ferguson, Gaza.”

Coverage of panel shows bias

After reading the article, I felt compelled to express my disappointment with this newspaper. Wednesday’s event was co-hosted by two black student groups and discussed struggles of African Americans, but Ms. Fitzpatrick failed to include comments from any black voices. She did, however, decide to include comments from Texans for Israel, who had no involvement in the event.

As a reader, it suggests to me that Ms. Fitzpatrick, the editorial staff and possibly even the entire organization, The Daily Texan, are heavily biased against the Palestinian human rights cause, the movements in Ferguson and speaking out about blacks’ struggle in America.

The whole lot of you ought to be ashamed of such an article and the message The Daily Texan has sent by approaching the article the way it has.

Black voices matter and, without question, should have been included in this article. The Daily Texan obviously disagrees.

The Palestine Solidarity Committee held a panel discussion on campus Wednesday, in which professors and students discussed the links between oppression in Ferguson, Missouri, and Gaza.

During the event, which was co-sponsored by the Association of Black Psychologists and the Pre-Law National Black Law Students Association, assistant English professor Snehal Shingavi said the purpose of the event was to highlight the connections between the conflict in Gaza and Ferguson after police broke up protests over the shooting of African-American teen Michael Brown.

“That would be the presence of massive militarized forces in dense urban settings and unarmed people fighting back with rocks and sticks against it,” Shingavi said.

Elan Kogutt, co-president of Texans for Israel, criticized the event in an email as it was held at the start of Rosh Hashanah and said no members of Texans for Israel were in attendance.

“Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection and goal-setting for the coming year,” Kogutt said. “Rather than bringing our two communities closer to peace, this event serves as a regressive step away from dialogue and education, comparing two very distinct instances and failing to acknowledge the loss of innocent Israeli life and suffering of millions of Israelis under rocket fire this summer.”

Mohammed Nabulsi, first year law student and member of the committee, said his organization was not aware that Rosh Hashanah was that night and that the scheduling was not intentional.

“We don’t plan our activities around holidays,” Nabulsi said. “As far as the Texans for Israel goes, the problem that the Palestine Solidarity Committee has with groups like this is that the ideology that they operate under is Zionism, and we can’t work with Zionism.”

Nabulsi said he thought the reason the struggles had been linked by both Palestinians and people of Ferguson is that they see a common humanity.

“I think the most important thing said tonight is that the struggles for both Palestinian rights in Palestine and Israel and the struggle for rights of people of color in the U.S. are commonly linked by the fact that we are all human,” Nabulsi said.

During the discussion, Shingavi said he was not arguing that the situations in Palestine and Ferguson were identical, but he wanted to discuss activism using the analytic tools of an academic context.

“What I am going to be arguing is that if you are outraged by what the police did in Ferguson, you might want to get a closer look at what routinely happens in Palestine,” Shingavi said.

A group of four students held a silent vigil at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue Wednesday afternoon to raise awareness of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, more than three weeks ago.

The students set up the vigil to depict the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager who was killed by a white police officer on Aug. 9 in Ferguson. Ethnic studies senior Hakeem Adewumi lay at the base of the statue in imitation of a dead body, with bullet wounds depicted and fake blood coming out of his head, while three other students held signs with quotes by Malcolm X and Emmett Till, whose death helped mobilize the African-American civil rights movement in 1955.

African studies senior Jasmine Graham said students staged the vigil to raise awareness of the racial dynamics and police brutality that affect others, particularly people of color.

“We just wanted to bring general awareness to the UT community and to people who probably don’t have to face this reality every day,” Graham said.

Graham said she hoped the vigil would promote dialogue among students about racial issues and find a solution to the problem of excessive police violence.

“We want people to start a conversation because I feel like people are afraid to confront things like this,” Graham said. “If enough people are talking about it, something can actually be done.”

African studies senior Kwanisha West said the group came up with the idea after seeing a group of performance artists stage a similar protest at a park in Philadelphia.

“We saw a video online where a group in Philly did something similar, so we got most of our inspiration for this [vigil] from that,” West said.

The four students wrote the names of people who had been killed in events involving excessive police violence around the country with chalk on the sidewalk near the statue.

Graham said the names showed the widespread occurrence of racism in society today.

“People might believe that we live in a post-racial society, which isn’t true,” Graham said. “It takes more than one person to overcome something that’s as systemic as profiling or racism in the police force.”

According to Graham, the vigil started around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday and ended around 11:30 a.m.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Texas wanted a win. West Virginia needed one. But in the end, desire proved more bountiful than survivor’s instinct.

The Longhorns blitzed the Mountaineers from the get-go in a 66-49 win, knocking West Virginia out of the Big 12 tournament and popping its NCAA bubble in the process. A 20-4 run to open the game set the tone early, and Texas stayed on the gas, never allowing the Mountaineers to crawl within double-digits.

“We just wanted to get back to being aggressive and attacking from the very beginning,” sophomore guard Javan Felix said. “I think we did a good job of that at the start of the game and kind of carried over throughout the game.”

West Virginia (17-15, 9-10 Big 12) began the game frazzled and timid from the floor, starting 1-for-16 with many of the shots coming in one-on-one situations before the shot clock expired. Juwan Staten, the Big 12’s leading scorer, mustered only four points on 1-for-11 shooting as chants of “air ball” from the Longhorn Band serenaded him the entire night.

“We know how good of a player and how quick he is,” freshman guard Kendall Yancy said. “We just backed off of him and took away his strength, which is driving.”

Texas’ aggressive zone defense stifled a Mountaineer attack, which had sizzled to the tune of 92 points in an upset win over Kansas last Saturday. That win sparked the Mountaineers’ tournament chances, but the wind created from West Virginia missing 70 percent of its shots eliminated the flame quickly.

“They've got a long back line in the zone, and they deflected a lot of passes,” West Virginia guard Terry Henderson said. “We did a poor job of squaring up and really looking at the floor before we threw the ball. I think we waited too late to try and flash in the middle to get some easy shots or some easy ball movement.

The Longhorns (23-9, 11-7 Big 12) looked nothing like the team they had been over the past few weeks. Entering the game Texas had lost five straight road games and dropped four out of its last seven contests. A young Longhorn team appeared to be in an underclassman slump, but it awoke at the correct time for tournament play.

Early in the season the Longhorns’ big lead would have been fragile, but they did a great job of keeping their composure whenever West Virginia made a mini run. Freshman point guard Isaiah Taylor termed the performance “the first time” this season the Longhorns had a sizable lead and didn’t surrender it later in the game.

“It showed that we are tough. And we are resilient. And we can hold them off in the second half,” Taylor said.

The Longhorns were paced by junior forward Jonathan Holmes with 20 points and sophomore guard Javan Felix added 16. Felix, the Longhorns’ most dangerous outside threat, seemed to find his shooting touch after failing to eclipse seven points in four of his last five games.

Felix, who has never be described as a hesitant shooter, worked to find open space on the outside, darting in and out of lanes and always seemed to find space in the corner.

The victory propels Texas into the semifinals for a matchup with Baylor, but more importantly, it creates a much needed momentum for a team that had struggled the past few weeks.

“If we don’t win away from home our season will be over,” Holmes said. “We only have two more guaranteed games, if we don’t have momentum moving forward our season will be over pretty soon.”

It’s simple: when sophomore guard Javan Felix is hot, Texas is as good as any team in the Big 12. Felix had 16 points Wednesday night and was relatively efficient from the field, hitting six of his 12 attempts.

Felix, a Louisiana native, has been streaky throughout the season and had been particularly erratic heading into the conference championships. In the three games since his impressive performance in a win over Baylor last month, Felix had a combined total of just 12 points.

But, marred in a terrible slump, a matchup with the Mountaineers was just what the doctor ordered for Felix. The stout shooting guard was great against West Virginia all season. In Texas’ three games against the Mountaineers this year, Felix averaged 17.3 points per game.

Staten’s stroke struggles

West Virginia’s Juwan Staten, who was the Big 12 leader in scoring heading into the game, was a major disappointment for the Mountaineers on Thursday night. Staten converted just one of his 11 field goal attempts and really struggled to penetrate Texas’ zone defense.

Staten’s lone field goal came on a fast break in the first half. With plenty of time and nobody chasing him down, the junior guard lined up for a dunk but came up short of the rim and was forced to lay it in. He came down holding his lower back and appeared hampered by the injury the rest of the way. Things went from bad to worse when Staten’s night came to an abrupt end midway through the second half as he rolled his ankle on a drive to the basket.

Texas triumphs three times

Texas’ quarterfinal win over the Mountaineers was the team’s third victory against West Virginia this season. The Longhorns beat Bob Huggins’ squad by 11 in Morgantown, W.Va., in January, by 17 in at the Erwin Center in February and were again victorious tonight, winning by 17 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

While Felix was certainly the best individual performer against the Mountaineers this season, it was Texas’ team defense that really stymied West Virginia in all three contests. The Longhorns’ zone often forced Staten and his Mountaineer teammates to settle for contested jumpers late in the shot clock, never giving them a chance to get in rhythm.

Looking forward to Baylor

Just a few minutes before Texas took to the court on Thursday night, Baylor knocked off Oklahoma, meaning the Longhorns will take on the Bears in the semifinals Friday night at 8 P.M.

Baylor’s upset of Oklahoma should give Texas some added confidence heading into its final four matchup. The Longhorns, who were winless in two games against the Sooners this season, beat the Bears handily both times the in-state foes met during the regular season. Texas’ freshman point guard Isaiah Taylor had a coming out party in Waco back in January, leading the Longhorns to a 74-60 road win while Javan Felix went off against the Bears in Austin, as Texas squeaked past Baylor 74-69 at home in late February.

Auburn needs to hit the ground running (and passing) if they want to win this SEC Championship and have a chance at the BCS National Championship. Despite engineering the biggest turnaround in SEC history and gaining immense confidence after beating Alabama, Auburn may be at a disadvantage. Missouri’s defense leads the SEC in sacks and interceptions and exhausts offenses. Auburn’s miracle-producing offense will either have to hope for another one, or hold onto an early lead. Missouri also holds the advantage at quarterback with senior James Franklin, who has completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions, compared to Nick Marshall’s 59.2 completion percentage with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.

No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Michigan State

Ohio State has been a hot topic in the Big 10 all season and now is the favorite to win the conference’s title game. The Buckeyes are 24-0 since Urban Meyer took over as head coach. History only further emphasizes Ohio State’s dominance. The Spartans have suffered a loss in eight out of their last nine meetings with the Buckeyes. But this game against Michigan State is more than just a formality on the Buckeyes’ journey to the BCS National Championship. The Spartans boast the best defense in the nation, made up mostly of future NFL Draft picks, which has led them to their impressive 11-1 record. Expect this game to come down to who has the final possession.

No. 18 Oklahoma vs. No. 6 Oklahoma State

Despite having a bye last week, Oklahoma State has some serious momentum after demolishing Baylor the previous week. The Cowboys’ recent performance makes it seem almost impossible that their one loss could have come from such a mediocre West Virginia team. A win here would improve the Cowboys’ record to 11-1, a record good enough to get into BCS title game contention. But Oklahoma is determined to not let that happen. The Sooners quarterbacks have been inconsistent but they boast the nation’s No. 15 rushing attack, which is sure to present a challenge for the Cowboy defense.

No. 7 Stanford vs. No. 11 Arizona State

Even with one of the top quarterbacks in the nation in Taylor Kelly, Arizona State is the underdog coming into this game. But the Sun Devils have surpassed expectations before as their current record of 8-1 in conference play and 10-2 overall has exceeded what many anticipated for their season. If you had asked which teams would be playing for the Pac-12 title at the beginning of the season, Arizona State likely wouldn’t have made that list. But here it is, and if the Sun Devils win here they will make their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1997. But Stanford isn’t going down easily. Although Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan’s stat sheet may not impress, he is one of the best game-managers and leaders in the conference and is looking to guide his team to another win.

Auburn’s slide into the Top 5, after its win against Georgia, set up the first matchup of Top 5 teams in the Iron Bowl since 1971. This high-stakes showdown is not just a fierce battle between in-state rivals but will also determine who wins the SEC West and plays for a conference championship. Auburn’s only loss of the season came on the road at LSU. Although Alabama beat LSU by 21 points, the Crimson Tide had the home-field advantage in that game, a factor that could have changed the game for Auburn. To keep Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron from throwing his way to securing its third consecutive Iron Bowl victory, the Tigers defense will have to keep their eyes up to stop completions — something it has not excelled at this season.

No. 6 Clemson vs. No. 10 South Carolina

South Carolina’s 70-10 win against Coastal Carolina set up the best-case scenario for the Gamecocks going into the game against Clemson. The Gamecocks didn’t struggle to put up points, leading 42-7 at the half, and more importantly didn’t sustain any more injuries. They finally got the opportunity to rest some of their key playmakers that have been playing through injuries all season. But Clemson is its toughest opponent yet and is led by quarterback Tajh Boyd, who threw for 288 yards and five touchdowns last week and holds more than 50 school records, is hoping to lead the Tigers to their first win in four years against their in-state rivals.

No. 19 Texas A&M vs. No. 5 Missouri

While Johnny Manziel took a step back in the Heisman race and Texas A&M got knocked down in the rankings after its loss to LSU. Missouri dodged a similar fate, beating Ole Miss, 24-10, in Oxford. Any fears the Tigers had of quarterback James Franklin performing poorly after more than a month of not starting (due to a shoulder injury) were silenced, as he completed 63 percent of his passes for 142 yards. In 2011, when both A&M and Missouri were Big 12 teams, the Tigers beat the Aggies, 38-31. But in 2012 when Texas A&M moved to the SEC and added Johnny Manziel to their roster, the new Aggies team proved to be too much for the Tigers, who fell drastically, 59-29. This year the game could go either way if Texas A&M is able rebound from their disappointing loss at LSU.

No. 22 UCLA vs. No. 23 USC

Last week UCLA came up short at home for their first time all season and dropped from No. 14 to No. 22 in the rankings. Previously, UCLA’s only two losses came from hard-hitting opponents, Oregon and Stanford, but last week they fell to No. 12 Arizona State, a team they could have beaten. The Bruins’ slow start and inability to avoid costly penalties meant the Sun Devils could get away with scoring just three points in the second half. USC, on the other hand, earned a 47-29 win against an easy opponent (Colorado) last week. The win served as a good warm-up for this week’s game, and gave sophomore Javorius Allen the chance to run for a career-best 145 yards and three touchdowns.

After playing each of its first four games at the Frank Erwin Center, the Longhorns head to Kansas City, Mo., Monday for their CBE semifinal matchup against the BYU Cougars.

Despite its youth and inexperience, Texas has started the season with an impressive four game win streak, but have yet to face the challenge of playing on the road.

“Just knowing that we’re going up to Kansas City to play BYU, this is a big opportunity for us to put Texas Basketball back on the map,” freshman point guard Isaiah Taylor said. “We want to get back to where we once were, so it’s a big opportunity [for] the team, the coaching staff and the program in general.”

Perhaps the bigger challenge for the young Longhorns will be playing on consecutive days, with a tournament championship on the line. Depending on the result of tonight’s game against the Cougars, Texas will take on DePaul or Wichita State in either the championship game or third place contest Tuesday night.

“The key will be playing in back-to-back games and playing a different style,” head coach Rick Barnes said. “So it will be important to adapt quickly from one game to the next. That’s what the early season is about. You try to get exposed to as many different styles as you can.”

Thought by many to be a team in the midst of the rebuilding process, the Longhorns have looked like a Big 12 contender in each of their first four games.

With so many unproven freshmen on the roster, it appeared as though Texas was going to need to rely heavily on it’s leading returning scorer from last year’s team, but that has not been the case.

“When we started the season, I would have thought we’d have to rely on Javan Felix for a little bit more scoring,” Barnes said. “But we don’t have to rely on any one player to score. We’d like to have five or six guys in double figures.”

Texas has done just that so far this year, with at least three players scoring in double figures in each of its games, including five guys with 10 or more against Stephen F. Austin. The Longhorns have also had three different leading scorers in their four contests this year, none of which have been Felix.

“I’ve been most surprised by our versatility on offense,” said junior forward Jonathan Holmes, who leads the team with 15 points per game. “I didn’t know how many guys would actually have the ability to score, but it’s good to see it from a lot of them.”

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The Longhorns are nearly impossible to read. After having a horrendously lackluster performance against Iowa State, Texas had, by far, its best game of the year the next week against No. 12 Oklahoma. The big difference was the Longhorns’ rushing attack. Running backs Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown both rushed for at least 120 yards on a combined 52 carries. Despite the big win, TCU still comes into the game slightly favored, presumably due to a lack of faith in backup quarterback Case McCoy, whose play is a legitimate concern. TCU has one of the best secondaries in the country. But the backup quarterback doesn’t need to be a game-breaker. If McCoy takes care of the ball like he did against the Sooners, the Longhorns can sneak out of Fort Worth with a win.

Texas (+1.5) at TCU

Lock of the Week

South Carolina at Missouri (-3)

Picking a lock in a matchup of two Top 25 teams may seem risky, but these two clubs are trending in opposite directions. Missouri is coming off an incredible two-week stretch in which they knocked off Georgia on the road by 15 points and then handled Florida easily at home by 19. South Carolina has been mediocre on the road all season and now they likely have to go at it without their starting quarterback Connor Shaw, who injured his knee last week in a loss to Tennessee. Missouri’s surprising rise to the Top 5 should last at least another week.

Upset Alert

Boston College (+7.5) at North Carolina

North Carolina is favored by more than a touchdown. That’s just too much for a 1-5 Tar Heels team that lost at home to East Carolina by 24 points. Boston College kept it close against Clemson and gave powerhouse Florida State their best game to date. They should be able to at least keep it within a touchdown, if not outright win against a talented but underachieving North Carolina squad.